Run DMC gets release date
After being delayed for more than a year, Run DMC's long-awaited comeback album, Crown Royal, finally will be released on Feb. 13. The first single will be "Rock Show," a track co-written and produced by Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins that can be heard on Arista's official web site. Besides Jenkins, the album will feature several other rap-rock crossovers with artists such as Kid Rock, Everlast and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst as well as guest appearances from Method Man, Nas, Jermaine Dupri and Mobb Deep's Prodigy. Jagged Edge, who had Run drop a verse on the "Let's Get Married" remix, will bring some R&B to the album on "Let's Stay Together," which samples Al Green's song of the same name. Crown Royal is the first album from Run DMC since 1993's Down With the King.
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Mystikal was supposed to bring in the new year on stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but instead he arrived an hour and 20 minutes late and fans had to settle for Destiny's Child, Ideal and Jon B. Mystikal was supposed to perform between Destiny's Child and Jon B. to allow time for a set change, but by the time he arrived at 1:20 a.m., both had performed and the concert had been over for 20 minutes. A promoter of the event told MTV that one of Mystikal's representatives showed up at the show between 11 p.m. and midnight and said that Mystikal was resting at a nearby hotel after arriving in L.A. late because of weather-related flight delays, but that he planned to perform as scheduled. The Staples Center was less than half full for the event -- approximately 7,000 people were in attendance. 
Salt and longtime boyfriend Gavin Wray were married at their home in Melville, N.Y., on Christmas Eve. The two, who also own a record label, GavFam, have a 10-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son together. The first album on GavFam, which is a joint venture with Rap-A-Lot that will be distributed by Virgin, will be Salt's solo debut, Salt of the Earth. The album will feature production by Rockwilder and is expected to drop this spring. 
Four of the Furious Five have filed a lawsuit against L.L. Cool J for copyright infringement. In the suit, Melle Mel, Kid Creole, Mr. Ness and Rahiem claim that L.L. used a sample from their 1979 song, "Superappin'" in "4,3,2,1" without their permission. The cut, which was released on L.L.'s 1997 album, Mr. Smith, featured Method Man, Redman, DMX and Canibus, and is best known for starting the rivalry between L.L. and Canibus. "Superappin'" was the first single released by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The group also is considering a similar lawsuit against Will Smith for an unauthorized sample of the same song on his 1999 album, Willennium. 
Depending on your point of view, the first year of the new millennium is either behind us or just under way. Either way, 2000 was another big year for hip-hop. 
Consolidated Motion Pictures has announced that they are working on a new 2Pac documentary. The film, called "2Pac Vs.," will feature one of the late rapper's last live performances as well as other previously unreleased material. The movie is scheduled to be released on Sept. 6, 2001, the fifth anniversary of the night 2Pac was shot in Las Vegas. He died seven days later, on Sept. 13, 1996. 
Despite selling close to 400,000 copies of The Last Meal, 
The New York Post is reporting that 
With Christmas behind us, the focus now shifts to the new year. And Mos Def, for one, has big plans for 2001. First up is his sophomore solo album, Hated By Them, Loved By Those, Respected By All, which is due to hit stores in the spring. His 1999 solo debut, Black On Both Sides, went gold. While there are no publicized plans to reunite with Black Star partner Talib Kweli, Mos Def is working on a group project. His funk-rock band, Jack Johnson, which also features Parliament/Funkadelic's Bernie Worrell and Living Colour's Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish, also will release an album in the upcoming year. In addition to the musical projects, Mos Def is slated to appear in a movie called "Civil Brand" with Da Brat and Monica as well as MTV's upcoming "Carmen Jones." Meanwhile, "Oh No," a track from Lyricist Lounge 2 featuring Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch and Nate Dogg, is getting heavy rotation and currently sits at No. 2 on the Billboard rap singles chart. 
Despite being ordered to pay $15 million in court last week, Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight donated $21,000 to rebuild a playground in Sacramento, Calif. Knight, who is serving a nine-year sentence on a probation violation, donated the money to help replace the swings, carousels and monkey bars that were destroyed by vandals who set the playground on fire last month. "I saw a report about it on local TV," Knight said in a statement. "A playground is the only safe place for kids to play and then somebody comes along and destroys it. A senseless crime that hurts little kids. I called Death Row Records in Los Angeles, told them to find out the cost to rebuild the playground and cut a check to cover it." 
Bizzy Bone is suing four record companies, a video company and one CEO because he wasn't given the $1 million advance he was promised for his second solo album and because he thinks a recently released Bone video portrays him in a negative light. Officially, Bizzy Bone is suing Sony Records, Loud Records, Compton Records, Epic Music Video, Ruthless Records and its CEO, Tomica Wright, for breach of contract, violation of right of publicity, false designation of origin, unfair competition, interference with prospective economic advantage, conspiracy, demand for accounting, constructive trust and permanent injunction.
For the record, 
Nas has fired off the latest shot in a war or words that has gone back and forth between him and the Roc-A-Fella camp for more than a year. Both of the Roc's comments came on Memphis Bleek tracks, but it was Jay-Z who triggered the subtle beef in 1999 on "What You Think of That?" off Bleek's debut album, Coming of Age, with the line, "I'm gonna ball till I fall/ What you think of that?" That inspired Nas to respond on the title track of Nastradamus: "You wanna ball till you fall?/ I can help you with that/ You got beef? I can lit a slug/ Melt in your hat." Memphis Bleek shot back on the original version of "My Mind Right," but a remix version without the lyrics appears on his sophomore disc, The Understanding. Nevertheless, Nas addresses Bleek on "Da Bridge 2001," a cut off of Q.B.'s Finest, which hit stores Tuesday. The compilation album features Mobb Deep, MC Shan, Capone-N-Noreaga, Roxanne Shante and Marley Marl. 
Gang Starr will headline the third annual "Brooklyn, Vermont" snowboarding festival. The event, which will take place Jan. 19-21 at a ski resort in Killington, Vt., also will feature performances by Tony Touch and DJ Evil Dee. Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Eminem and the GZA are among the emcees who have performed at the event in the past. Meanwhile, Guru, who recently released the third installment in the Jazzmatazz series, Street Soul, and DJ Premier will be heading into the studio in the summer of 2001 to work on their first album since 1998's Moment of Truth.